Winch follower assembly

ABSTRACT

A winch follower assembly includes a motor driven drum on which a cable winds or from which a cable unwinds, as desired. A follower rides on the winch frame adjacent the drum and has a number of rollers carried by a pair of jaws contacting the last coil wound on the drum for the purpose of holding such coil frictionally against the winch drum to prevent undesirable unraveling.

United States Patent Bausenbach et'al.

[ Sept. 17, 1974 WINCH FOLLOWER ASSEMBLY Inventors: Arthur E. Bausenbach, Levittown;

Richard T. Seiple, Sayville; Frank D. Palopoli, Babylon, all of NY.

Assignee: Sanitary Controls, Inc., Deer Park,

Filed: June 15, 1971 Appl. No.: 153,338

US. Cl ..254/186 R, 254/DIG. 11,

Int. Cl B66d 1/00 Field of Search 254/190, DIG. 11, 186, 254/010. 14

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1936 Stahl 254/DlG. 15 11/1960 Moran 254/D1G. l4

Schwarz et al 254/144 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 112,967 l/l945 Sweden 254/DIG. 14 30,198 7/1964 Germany 254/D1G. 11 54,794 4/1969 Germany 254/DIG. 11

Primary Examiner-Robert B. Reeves Assistant ExaminerHadd S. Lane Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Gottlieb, Rackman, Reisman & Kirsch [5 7] ABSTRACT A winch follower assembly includes a motor driven drum on which a cable winds or from which a cable unwinds, as desired. A follower rides on the winch frame adjacent the drum and has a number of rollers carried by a pair of jaws contacting the last coil wound on the drum for the purpose of holding such coil frictionally against the winch drum to prevent undesirable unraveling.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PTENIEBSEH 119 SHEU 1 [W2 7y; INVENTORS ATTORNEYS Winches of the motor driven type are well known in the refuse-collection industry. They may for example be mounted on truck chassis and be used for pulling refuse containers onto the beds of such truck chasis at a refuse-collecting station for the purpose of then hauling the refuse container to a refuse dump. The winch may also be used for unloading the refuse container from the truck chasis both when the refuse container is full at for example the dump and when the container is empty upon its return to the refuse-collecting station. Such winches have generally comprised a drum which is driven by a motor either in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction, for either winding or unwinding purposes. An elongated usually stranded cable is fixed to one end of the drum and is wound about the drum as the motor drives the drum in one direction or is unspooled from the drum as the drum is driven in the opposed direction. 7

A problem relating to the snarling of the cable results when the free end of the cable is not maintained under a significant degree of tension. Such condition may arise when, for example, a worker takes the free end of a cable, to which a hook is usually attached, and attempts to pull the cable away from the drum for the purpose of attaching it to some object, while the motor is driving the drum in an unwinding direction. The worker in this instance is unable to maintain a sufficient amount of tension on the cable; the coils of the cable, as they are unwinding from the drum loop about the drum. These loops are formed by the drum unwinding to dispense cable at a rate greater than the rate at which the cable can be pulled away from the drum. These loops have a diameter larger than the diameter of the drum. Under these conditions, the loops, being freed of frictional contact with the drum, become tangeled with one another and may even become caught in the winch.

Moreover, the worker may not be able to maintain the proper tension on the cable constantly, so that first a few loose loops may be formed, then tension may be maintained so that the loops cross one another and tend to bind against one another while unwinding continues, then tension may be lessened so that additional loops are formed. Hence even though the worker keeps the end of the cable taut for some time, the drum itself would have one or several locations at which the coils of the cable have looped away from the drum for lack of a constant tension on the free cable end. When next the worker drives the winch drum in a winding direction, as for example when he has fixed the free end of the cable to a refuse container, and the winch then pulls the refuse container onto the bed of a truck, the result will be some degree of slippage in the movement of the container onto the truck.

Even more importantly, when the refuse container is in its loaded position on the bed of the truck, and seems to be held tautly by the winch, in fact there still may be some loose loops" remaining on the drum. Thereafter, when the worker drives the truck carrying the refuse container along a road, the loose loops may tend to work one another out and let the cable go slack, and thus permit the refuse container to shift back and forth on the truck bed. For this reason, it has been necessary to anchor down the refuse container on the bed of the truck, since it was considered too dangerous to permit the container to be held solely by the winch. Of course, the additional requirement-of anchoring the refuse con tainers in place each time one is loaded is timeconsuming for the worker and makes the refuse removal process more costly.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a winch follower assembly which maintains constant friction between the coils of the cable and the winch drum, thereby preventing the formation of loose loops of the cable about the drum.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a winch follower assembly of the character described, wherein the follower includes a number of rollers'spaced about the periphery of the drum so that points of pressure exerted by the follower on the coils are similarly spaced around the periphery of the coil.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a winch follower assembly of the character described wherein the follower includes a pair of rollercarrying jaws, the jaws keeping the rollers against the last-wound coil of the cable under constant spring pressure.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a winch follower assembly of the character described wherein the follower is small in its number of parts, simple in manufacture, and can be readily adapted for use with any conventional motor-driven winch.

Other objects, features, and embodiments of the invention are contemplated and will be apparent from the following more detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the winch follower assemblyin accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the winch drum, featuring means for quickly attaching and retaining the fixed end of the cable at one end of the drum, taken substantially along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, taken substantially along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1, and showing the follower in greater detail;

FIG. 4 is a somewhat enlarged top plan view of the follower, with a portion of the top jaw broken away and a segment of the drum; and

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the follower as in FIG. 4, but with the drum removed from the purposes of clarity and a portion of the top jaw of the follower broken away.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, a winch follower assembly 10 is shown which includes a motor driven winch 12. The winch 12 has a rigid frame 14 which includes a pair of elongated struts l6, l8 and a pair of cross braces 20, 22. The struts l6, l8 and the cross braces 20, 22 are interconnected as by welding to form the frame on which other components of the as sembly 10 are mounted. As shown in FIG. 3, the cross brace 22 is of L-shaped configuration, and includes a horizontal bar 24 and a depending vertical bar 26.

A speed-reducer 28 is a component of the winch l2 and is conventional in structure and function. Desirably the reducer is fixed between the cross braces 20, 22. The reducer 28 is driven in a conventional manner by a hydraulic motor mounted on the truck on which the assembly 10 is mounted. The reducer has an elongated drive shaft 30 which extends from both sides of the reducer, and which in part is supported by a bearing 32 which is also fixed between the cross braces 20, 22.

The winch 12 also includes a drum 38 which is journaled on the ends of the. struts 16, 18, which are distant from the reducer 28, for rotation in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions. More specifically, the drum includes a cylindrical hollow sleeve 40 and an elongated central shaft 42. The sleeve 40 is periodically fixed to the central shaft 42 by a number of spacers 44.

The ends of the central shaft 42 are journaled in bearings 52 which are secured to struts 16, 18. The drum 38, in the embodiment shown, has a righthand single groove 48 formed on the exterior surface of the sleeve 40. The groove 48 has a radius adapted to receive the windings of a cable 50, the cable desirably being of the heavy duty stranded type.

Drive means connects the reducer 28 and the drum 38 to enable rotation of the drum in either counterclockwise or clockwise direction, as desired. For this purpose, the drive shaft 30 of the reducer 28 carries a pair of sprockets 54 on opposed ends thereof, the sprockets 54 being carried on hubs 34, 36 and the drum 38 also carries a pair of corresponding sprockets 56. Chain links 58 run between the sprockets 54 and the drum sprockets 56 so that as the drive shaft 30 is driven in any selected direction of rotation, the drum 38 will be driven in a similar direction.

The cable 50 has a fixed end 60 which is secured to the drum 38 at one end thereof. The fixed end 60 is secured to the right-hand side, i.e., the lead end of groove 48 of the drum 38, so that as the drum 38 is driven in a winding direction, the cable 50 will coil thereon in the direction from the right to the left as seen in FIG. 1, that is, in the direction of rotation.

Quick-attach means is provided to enable a worker to quickly attach the fixed end 60 of the cable to one end of the drum 38. For this purpose, the fixed end carries an encircling band 62, secured to it as by swedging or welding. The sleeve 40 has an aperture 64 of sufficient dimension to permit the band 62 of the fixed end 60 to pass through it without an excessive amount of play. The aperture 64 leads from the exterior of the sleeve 40 to the hollow interior of the drum 38. A headed bolt 66 has a tip 68 which, when the bolt 66 is screwed fully into the sleeve, penetrates into the interior of the drum toward the aperture 64. The tip 68 projects into the aperture to a sufficient extent so as to prevent withdrawal of the band 62 through the aperture 64. After the cable end 60 leaves the aperture 64, it makes a bend as at 70 about the outer surface of the sleeve 40 so that the cable frictionally engages the drum surface. Any pull on the cable is absorbed by this friction rather than by force being applied between the band 62 and the tip of the bolt 66. It should be noted that the bolt 66 is situated adjacent the aperture 64 on the side thereof opposed to the side adjacent the bend 70. The bolt 66 is withdrawn so that its tip backs away from the aperture 64, when it is desired to remove the fixed end 60 from the drum or to insert said end into the drum.

For the purpose of preventing slack between the coils of the cable 50 and the grooved surface of the sleeve 40, a winch follower 72 is provided and is best seen in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. The follower includes an upper jaw 74, a lower jaw 76 and a set of rollers 78 held by the jaws 74, 76.

The upper jaw 74 includes a pair of elongated parallel spaced struts 80, 82 which are joined in at least one locationby a link 84. In elevation, as best seen in FIG. 3, the upper jaw 74 has an inner or lower curvature generally matching but of larger radius than the curvature of the sleeve 40, said curvature extending through a span of approximately l. The lower jaw 76 also includes a pair of elongated parallel spaced struts 86, 88 which are held in interconnected relation by a link 90. The inner surface of the lower jaw 76 has a curvature similar to that of the upper jaw 74, and extends through approximately 90.

The upper jaw and lower jaw are arranged in a clamshell manner so that they may open or close with respect to one another. For this reason, the struts 80, 82 of the upper jaw 74 are interleaved with the struts 86, 88 of the lower jaw 76, as best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4. Pivot means enables the jaws 74, 76 to open and close and for this purpose, a shaft 92 having both of its ends threaded, passes through all four struts, through appropriate apertures therein. The shaft 92 carries lock nuts 94 at each of its ends to fix it in position, the lock nuts 94 being positioned on one side on the outer side of the strut 80, and on the outer side of the strut 88. The shaft may also be secured in place by other conventional fastening means.

The upper jaw 74 carries a pair of the rollers 78, namely rollers 78a and 78b, these rollers being spaced approximately from one another. These rollers 78a, 78b, are mounted on shafts 96 journaled between the struts 80, 82. FIG. 4 shows these rollers in contact with the cable 50, while FIG. 5 is a similar view, with the drum removed for the purposes of clarity. In a similar manner, the lower jaw 76 carries another roller 780 of the set of such rollers 78, such roller being affixed to a shaft 96 which is journaled between the struts 86, 88. The angle of spacing between the roller 780 of the lower jaw 76 and the roller 78b of the upper jaw 74 is also approximately 120. The rollers 78a, 78c and the ends of the struts on which they are mounted, define a cable passageway for cable 50 of an arc of approximately 120. The positions of the roller 78a, 78b and 780 are shown schematically in FIG. 2. The rollers 78 each have a groove 98 formed on their surface which has approximately the same radius as the groove 48 of the sleeve 40, so that each roller will mate with the cable 50 on the sleeve 40.

The roller 78 are desirably skewed on the jaws 74, 76 so as to engage a turn of the cable 50 about the drum at points along at least and desirably about 240 of such turn. More specifically, and as best seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, the rollers 78a, and 78b are skewed so that they rotate about axes perpendicular to the line X and the roller 78c is skewed so that its axis of rotation is perpendicular to the line Y, the combined line X, Y substantially following the center of a 240 segment on the groove 48 as it spirals about the drum 38. The skewing of the rollers 78 insures that each roller will sit directly over and be in contact with that portion of the cable 50 to which it is directly adjacent.

The jaws 74, 76 are urged towards one another in order to maintain pressure between the rollers 78 and the adjacent portions of the cable 50. For this purpose, spring means is provided and comprises an elongated retaining rod 100 which passes through apertures in both the link 84 of the upper jaw 74 and the link 90 of the lower jaw 76. The upper end of the rod 100 is threaded and carries a lock nut 102. The lower end of the rod 100 is also threaded to carry a lock nut 104. A tension spring 106 is coiled about an end of the rod and is illustrated coiled about the lower end of the rod 100 between link 90 and the lock nut 104. The spring 106 urges the nut 104 away from the link 90, and in so doing, draws the nut 102 and thus the link 84 towards the link 90, thereby biasing the jaws 74, 76 towards one another and permitting the jaws to flex in relation to the rod 100. Tension between the jaws can be varied by moving the nuts 102, 104 towards or away from one another on the rod 100.

The follower 72 is mounted for sliding movement on the frame 14 in a direction generally parallel to the axis of the drum 38. For this purpose, a cutout 110 is formed by each of the struts 80, 82 of the upper jaw 74, and a slide pad 112 is fixed as by welding to both of the struts 80, 82 in the gap defined by the cutout 110. A shoulder 114 is formed in the lower jaw 76, in both the struts 86, 88, to prevent any interference in this area. The slide pad 112 rests'on the upper surface of the upper bar 24 of the cross brace 22, and as best seen in FIG. 3, the bar 24 is situated in the cutout 110. With the upper jaw and lower jaw in place enveloping the drum 38, the follower 22 slides in the direction indicated by the arrow Z in FIGS. 1 and 4, along the brace 22.

Referring now to the operation of the follower assembly, and as seen in FIG. 1, the follower is situated so that its rollers engage a portion of the last-wound cable turn on the drum 38. Accordingly, as the drum 38 is driven in a wind" direction, as indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 1, the follower will travel towards the left, i.e., the groove lead, always engaging the last-wound turn on the drum, and may move toward the far left, i.e., unwound end of the drum, assuming a position 72'. Conversely, as the drum is unwound by being driven in the direction indicated by the arrow B in FIG. 1, the follower will travel towards the right, again always engaging the last-wound turn on the cable.

The function of the follower is to keep the major portion of the last-wound turn of the cable under moderate pressure against the drum surface to insure that there is always frictional contact between the last-wound turn and the drum. This frictional engagement ensures that even if at times the end of the cable 50 is not taut, the cable will never form free enlarged loops on the drum, which would cause tangeling or loss of frictional contact with the drum. Rather, even if there is no tension on the end of the cable 50, and the drum is driven in the unwind direction, the cable leaves the drum smartly, with frictional contact being maintained as indicated. This friction is sufficient to prevent the cable from sliding over the surface of the drum and forming loops. The spacing of the rollers maintains this frictional engagement throughout the major portion of the wound turn.

A latitude of modification, change and substitution is intended in the foregoing disclosure and in some instances some features of the invention will be employed without a corresponding use of other features. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims by construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the spirit and scope of the invention herein.

We claim:

1. For use with a winch comprising a frame, a drum mounted on the frame, a cable in part wound about the drum, and means for driving the drum in both wind and unwind directions,

a winch follower assembly comprising a pair of arcuate jaws, each jaw including a pair of elongate struts, the struts of the jaws being interleaved, the jaws describing an arc of less than 360, the jaws at one set of ends terminating distantly from one another to define a cable passage therebetween substantially greater than the diameter of the cable, means pivoting the jaws at their other set of ends and mounting the jaws for movement towards and away from the drum on opposed sides thereof, rollers mounted on each of the jaws and engaging spaced portions of the cable wound on the drum to maintain frictional contact between the cable and the drum, the cable running through the cable passage between the distant ends of the jaws into the drum, the drum having a spiralling groove formed thereon to receive the cable and the rollers being journaled between the struts of their respective jaws and each roller having a complimentary groove with the axes of the rollers generally perpendicular to the centerline of the groove formed on the drum, spring means mounted adjacent the pivoting means for biasing the jaws towards one another and including a spring urging one jaw towards the other jaw, the spring means including means to adjust the tension of the spring, and means mounting the follower on the frame for movement in a direction generally parallel to the axis of the drum, the follower mounting means including a slide member fixed to at least one of the jaws and slidably engaged to the frame.

2. A winch follower assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein one of the jaws carries two rollers and the other jaw carries one roller, the rollers contacting portions of the cable over an arc of about 240.

3. A winch follower assembly as set forth in claim 2 wherein the rollers are situated approximately from one another and the cable passage comprises an arc of approximately 120.

4. A winch follower assembly as set forth in claim 1, further including means for detachably fixing one end of the cable to the drum, said means comprising an aperture in the drum, an enlarged member fixed to said cable end and insertable into said aperture, and an elongated member protrudable into the aperture to selectively block withdrawal of said cable end. 

1. For use with a winch comprising a frame, a drum mounted on the frame, a cable in part wound about the drum, and means for driving the drum in both wind and unwind directions, a winch follower assembly comprising a pair of arcuate jaws, each jaw including a pair of elongate struts, the struts of the jaws being interleaved, the jaws describing an arc of less than 360*, the jaws at one set of ends terminating distantly from one another to define a cable passage therebetween substantially greater than the diameter of the cable, means pivoting the jaws at their other set of ends and mounting the jaws for movement towards and away from the drum on opposed sides thereof, rollers mounted on each of the jaws and engaging spaced portions of the cable wound on the drum to maintain frictional contact between the cable and the drum, the cable running through the cable passage between the distant ends of the jaws into the drum, the drum having a spiralling groove formed thereon to receive the cable and the rollers being journaled between the struts of their respective jaws and each roller having a complimentary groove with the axes of the rollers generally perpendicular to the centerline of the groove formed on the drum, spring means mounted adjacent the pivoting means for biasing the jaws towards one another and including a spring urging one jaw towards the other jaw, the spring means including means to adjust the tension of the spring, and means mounting the follower on the frame for movement in a direction generally parallel to the axis of the drum, the follower mounting means includIng a slide member fixed to at least one of the jaws and slidably engaged to the frame.
 2. A winch follower assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein one of the jaws carries two rollers and the other jaw carries one roller, the rollers contacting portions of the cable over an arc of about 240*.
 3. A winch follower assembly as set forth in claim 2 wherein the rollers are situated approximately 120* from one another and the cable passage comprises an arc of approximately 120*.
 4. A winch follower assembly as set forth in claim 1, further including means for detachably fixing one end of the cable to the drum, said means comprising an aperture in the drum, an enlarged member fixed to said cable end and insertable into said aperture, and an elongated member protrudable into the aperture to selectively block withdrawal of said cable end. 